United Church of God

Personal From the President: August 12, 2021

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Personal From the President

August 12, 2021

ABC to start 23rd academic year

It’s time to start the next academic year of Ambassador Bible College (ABC). We held a faculty and staff meeting on Tuesday to discuss the upcoming class and the year’s teaching and activity schedule.

Enrollment for the new year is still less than we would like, currently at 17 students: nine women and eight men, including three older members in the class. Several factors may be responsible: international students are not able to come to the U.S. and COVID-19 restrictions and fears may discourage some prospective students from committing to ABC.

The teen camps held this summer included informational meetings about ABC to encourage our teens to include ABC in their future plans.

The start of the year begins on Sunday, Aug. 22, with a get-acquainted picnic. All of us here are eager to get to know everyone in the new class.

New regional online Bible seminars for our co-workers and donors

In our major subscriber development letter in May, I gave our readers a list of nine subjects of interest and asked them to choose three topics that they would like for us to write more about. More than 7,000 readers responded and the top three were: getting closer to God, understanding the Bible better and prophecy. In the coming months we’ll work on writing more on these subjects. In addition, we will be hosting a series of online seminars in Florida, where these subjects will be addressed. The presenter will be Rick Shabi who is pastor of the Orlando and Jacksonville congregations. We have over 380 donors living in this area, indicating a high level of interest in our message. An invitation will first be extended to this group. The first seminar will be held on Oct. 10.

The advantage of offering these seminars online is that interested people can listen from home and not have to go out to meet people they do not know. This has been a barrier to meeting people who definitely want to know more, but are reluctant to meet initially in person. Our desire is to get to know these people first in this manner, and then make them feel welcome to visit our congregations in person.

The online seminars will allow for questions from the listeners. We hope we can engage with people more directly with the Word of God and provide one-on-one spiritual support through our ministry.

So, please pray for good success in this new format.

Current subscriber letter

A new quarterly subscriber letter is on its way to our co-workers and donors. The subject that I cover in this letter is angels and we offer the booklet on the subject. This is one of our newer study aids, first introduced about three years ago.

Spokane congregation

This last weekend, Beverly and I visited our Spokane, Washington, congregation. We thoroughly appreciated the warmth and hospitality of the brethren, and applaud the pastoral care given by Paul and Darla Moody as well as elder Mike Iiams and his wife, Joyce. Paul Moody is also the senior pastor of English-speaking congregations in Ghana and Nigeria.

Earlier in March of this year, ABC held a virtual charity fun show to build and repair church buildings in Ghana. Paul Moody sent a few photos showing the progress of the construction with this report. They are featured in this post. 

During the last week of May 2021, senior pastor Paul Moody visited the coastal region of Ghana to inspect the ongoing building projects for the Kwanyako and Winneba congregations. These two projects are the recipients of a joint Ambassador Bible College and LifeNets fundraiser held earlier this year. Kwanyako has recently completed the construction of the walls to their new church hall, which will also serve as a community center. Winneba is upgrading its current structure to include plumbed washrooms, as well as a perimeter wall surrounding their complex. Both congregations are grateful for the generosity of others, which has made these projects possible.

New Beyond Today television season begins

Recording for our new television season began last Wednesday, with two new programs:

“The 7 Churches of Revelation: Faith, Trial & Victory” by Darris McNeely. Powerful forces are gathering against religion and people who hold to belief in God and the Bible as His word. Religion and faith in the public arena are being canceled. If you consider the Bible as the source of revealed Truth, this is a dark moment. It is a moment to awake and watch.

“Point of No Return” by Steve Myers. We face a monumental struggle for control over values. It’s not just a political battle, but a culture war. There’s a relentless battle for your mind and your values. It’s in everything you watch and see. It shapes how you view the world.

Please pray for the success of these programs when they go to air in a month’s time. Television and streaming video are very important parts of our multi-faceted approach to preaching the gospel around the world.

UYC teen camp update

The United Youth Camps program is now 26 years old. Five summer camps were held in June and July, and Winter Camp is scheduled in late December. In spite of a major outbreak of COVID-19 at Camp Pinecrest, there were five COVID-free camps, beginning with Winter Camp last December. This summer, 423 campers and 276 staff attended one of the five teen camps. Campers and staff were overjoyed to be together again in the camp environment.

The Christian Living theme was “Be Anchored To God” and tied in with Hebrews 6:19: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.”

I want to thank Steve Nutzman as well as all the directors and staff who were able to conduct a wonderful program this year. Bev and I were able to visit Camp Woodland in Georgia. While there, I recorded a podcast with director Jay Ledbetter and his assistant, Philip Aust, who talk about the success of our United Youth Camps program.

I would like to conclude with this list of helpful imperatives from the apostle Paul that are fitting words for today: “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:17-22, English Standard Version).